Chronicle 6b is the second in a series of the sixth book of
the Holy Scriptures, Joshua. The writer of the book Joshua notes
the fact that certain memorial monuments of stones remained in
the land at the time of writing. Repeated throughout the book
is the phrase, “unto this day” or “for
a memorial.” But they were not there for their benefit
only. We too can profit from the witness of the stones.
Let’s take a trip through the land of Canaan and view the
memorial stones.
These stones stood as memorials for the children of Israel.
They marked significant phases of the conquest of Canaan. Sometimes
they stood as reminders of what things the Lord had accomplished.
Other times, however, they were a reminder of a painful defeat
suffered by the Israelites. Both served their instructive purpose
for them in that day, just as they do for us today. (See 1Corinthians
10:11).
1. Nature Conquered
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4:8 And the children if Israel ... took up twelve
stones out of the midst of Jordan, ... and carried them over
with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down
there. |
Standing between the Israelites and their inheritance
was a great obstacle. The Jordan river overflowed its brushy
banks at floodtide. The flooded Jordan might be called an obstacle
of nature. Was there a power that could conquer the forces of
“nature,” even death itself? The way to the promised
land and the inheritance God had promised was through Jordan.
The priests, in obedience to God’s command, stepped into
the river bearing “...the ark of the covenant of the
Lord of all the earth.” That ark was symbolically the
very throne of the God of the universe. He had chosen to seat
Himself there in the midst of His people. The Israelites stood
back now with a space between them and the ark and watched as
the Lord went down into that place of death. The waters of Jordan
parted and the obstacle of nature, the death that blocked their
entrance, was overcome.
Stones were placed on the opposite bank as a memorial of how
the Israelites were safely brought into their inheritance. (See
Joshua 3 & 4).
2. The Place Where He Was
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4:9 And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst
of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which
bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this
day. |
Closely related to the first stones is the marking of
the very place where the priests with the ark had stood in the
middle of the Jordan. Stones were placed in the riverbed in the
very spot where the ark had been. These “stones of
remembrance” were used to instruct future generations, particularly
the children.
One might envision a father standing with his child by the
Jordan and explaining how the Israelites had been brought into
the land. Gazing down into the water he could point to those
stones and explain where the ark had to go in order to overcome
the obstacle of death. (See Joshua 4).
The stones on the bank showed
that God brought them into the
promised inheritance. But the
unseen stones in the Jordan
showed them where God had
to go to get them there.
The believer in Christ is never to forget how it was that
he was brought into such a great inheritance in Christ. We must
ever have before us where it was the Lord had to go to secure
that inheritance for us. God has established for the church the
regular observance of the Lord’s supper as one of the primary
means of bringing these great truths before Christians as a corporate
body.
3. The Flesh Judged
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7:26 And they raised over him [Achan] a great
heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the
fierceness of his anger. |
When the Israelites went into the land of Canaan they
went in not only to claim their inheritance but also to execute
the wrath of God. They were instruments in His hand to bring
His judgment on an ungodly Canaanite civilization. God had announced
to Abraham 400 years before that once His longsuffering had reached
its limit His judgment would come. That time had now arrived.
It was vital that the Israelites agree with God’s judgment.
So when a city was declared a “cursed city” or placed
under “the ban,” all was to be utterly destroyed. Such
was the case with Jericho. Achan, however, took of the “accursed
thing.” In doing so he failed to agree with God’s judgment
and thereby incurred the judgment of God against himself.
Achan saw certain items, lusted after them, took them, and
hid them in his tent. When the Israelites suffered defeat in
an attack on the city of Ai, the cause was revealed as “sin
in the camp.” Achan had committed his act of disobedience
to fulfill his fleshly desires. It was a costly mistake not only
for him, but also for his family and the nation as a whole.
The sin of the individual had to be dealt with and the flesh
judged before corporate victory ensued.
So it is today – those
who do not
agree with God’s judgment
against sin will one day face the
very judgment of God!
Achan was stoned and “they raised over him a great heap
of stones unto this day.” The stones in the “valley
of trouble” (Achor) mark the incident.
4. Sin Judged
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8:29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until
eventide: ... that they should take his carcase down from the
tree,... raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth
unto this day. |
Chapter 8 records the victory of the Israelites over the city
of Ai. Sin in the camp had been judged. Where Israel had once
suffered defeat, they now realized a great victory. The city
of Ai was burnt. The king of Ai was hanged on a tree until evening.
His body was then taken down, cast at the gate of the city, and
a great heap of stones raised there which, “remaineth
unto this day.” These stones memorialized the victory
realized when sin was judged and God’s side taken against
sin.
5. Law Established
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8:31 ... As it is written in the book of the law
of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no man
hath lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings
unto the LORD ... . |
One of the great objectives of God was the establishment of the
law in the land before His people would be permanently settled
there. The people gathered on Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim to read
the blessings and the cursings of the law. What a mighty work
God had done! Hear the law of God ringing out in the land of
Canaan! There, an altar was erected of whole stones “over
which no man had lift up any iron.” This was a work
of God!
Romans 8 reminds Christians that “what the law could
not do...” God accomplished by the death of His own
Son. His objective is stated in the following verse which says,
“that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us ... .” Joshua wrote on the stones a copy of the
law. (See Joshua 8:30-35).
PICTURE of CHRIST
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The same mount Ebal where the law was written and where the
cursings were pronounced for disobedience is where the altar
was to be erected. The altar was for sacrifices acceptable to
God. Its stones were to be whole – ones that an iron tool
(human workmanship) had never touched. Whole stones would be
what God created in their natural state. Thus the same place
that brought cursings would also provide a sacrifice (without
human works) for the sinner unto God.
Not only has the law of God brought us cursings but
also the Christ of God by His cross sacrifice has provided
acceptance unto God by being made a curse for us. This is accomplished
without the sinner doing any works of the law. (Gal. 3:10-13).
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6. Enemies Put Down
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10:27 ... And they took them [5 kings] down off the
trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid,
and laid great stones in the cave’s mouth, which
remain until this very day. |
Chapters 9 &10 record, among other things, the great confederacy
of kings that joined forces to fight against the Israelites.
They were defeated by the third set of miracles recorded in Joshua.
God rained down “...great stones from heaven upon them...
[and] ...they were more that died with hailstones than they whom
the children of Israel slew with the sword” (10:11).
Also, “...the sun stood still and the moon stayed...”
(10:13) until the enemies had been thoroughly defeated. The Lord
that day “...hearkened to the voice of a man...” (10:14).
Five kings were executed. Their bodies were cast into the
cave where they had been hiding and great stones were piled in
the cave’s mouth which the writer states “...remaineth
until this very day” (10:27).
These stones were a great
reminder of how it was the
enemies were put down
and God’s salvation
secured and maintained.
PICTURE of CHRIST
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Joshua specifically records the accounts of six kings that
Israel hung as cursed on a tree and then covered with stones.
(The king of Ai in chapter 8 and the five southern kings here
in chapter 10). But the Word of God records a total of 7 kings
that Israel hung as cursed on a tree then covered with a stone.
The kings were hung on a tree as a sign of being under the curse
and judgment of God for sin (Deut. 21:22,23). In the six kings
of Joshua it mentions for them all: “stones that remaineth
unto this day” (8:29, 10:27). The heap of stones was
a perpetual memorial of the judgment of God against their sin.
The 7th King. Jesus “the king of the Jews”
was also consigned to a tree to be crucified as a criminal. As
He hung on the tree the Jewish leaders said, “If He be the
King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross ... let
Him (God) deliver Him now, if He will have Him.”
But God didn’t save Him from the tree and they went away
convinced that Jesus was cursed of God.
“They took Him (the Lord Jesus) down from the tree, and
laid Him in a sepulchre” (Acts 13:29). They then sealed
it with a stone (Matt. 27:66). But this stone does not
“remain unto this day” for God rolled it away and raised
Him from the dead as Lord! He was being cursed for us!
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7. Commitment Promised
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24:27 ... Behold, this stone shall be a witness
unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he
spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest
ye deny your God. |
Near the end of Joshua’s life the people were challenged
to give themselves unreservedly to the Lord. They were reminded
of the difficulties they faced in serving the Lord. His holiness
and His jealousy were brought before them. Joshua pointed to
the people’s tendency to vacillate and compromise. He warned
them of the disaster that would ensue if they intermarried with
the heathen nations around them. They would incur God’s
judgment if they disobeyed Him because they were in a
covenant relationship with God.
Joshua set up a stone of witness (24:26,27); a witness of
the covenant and the people’s decision to follow the Lord.
“The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will
we obey” (24:24).
The stone was there for a memorial and served as a reminder
of their decision. From time to time they could measure the reality
of their lives against what that stone represented.
But that stone is also a witness of the human heart. Despite
their sincerity in promising to keep God’s ways, Israel
would fail miserably (Judges 2). Their history witnesses that
man needs something more than making promises.
Perhaps we might even note a “spiritual order” of
the lessons of the stones.
1. Nature and Death Conquered - Romans 1-4 - man is
a guilty sinner by practice and nature and is “worthy of
death.” But Christ’s death overcomes the “obstacles”
that block the way to the salvation of God.
2. The Place Where it Occurred - Romans 4-5 - justification
is not by our ongoing works of law but in the Person of the Lord
Jesus Christ who “died for us” on the cross.
3. Sin in the Flesh Judged - Romans 6-7 - “our
old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be
destroyed.” “In my flesh dwelleth no good thing.”
4. Law Established - Romans 3:31, 8:4 - “We establish
the law” “The righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
5. Enemies Put Down - Romans 8:7,13; 31-39 - “The
carnal mind is enmity against God.” “... If ye through
the Spirit do mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body, ye
shall live.”
6. Covenant Established - Romans 8:39, 11:27 -Nothing
can “separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.” Israel also will be saved by the new “covenant”
of mercy in Christ Jesus by God’s covenant faithfulness.
7. Lives Yielded to Him - Romans 12:1,2 - Believers
are asked in response to a gospel of mercy to present their bodies
as a “living sacrifice” to God in service and worship.
This will involve a renewed mind knowing His will.
As we look back on the stones in the book of Joshua we can
take a tour of the land of Israel via the stones. What lessons
for our lives today!
There is no other way to enter into the blessing of God than
through the death Christ died. He went down into that place of
death to secure for us the great inheritance that we have in
Him. All who fail to agree with God’s judgment against sin
will, like Achan, suffer the very judgment of God. The death
that He died enables the righteousness of God’s law to be
fulfilled in us.
And if we are believers in the Lord Jesus, how do our lives
measure against the decision of our hearts to follow the Lord?